David Ray - Trickster

The concept of the ‘trickster’ is longstanding in our culture - the comedian who tells a horrible truth in a hilarious way, the lovable larrikin who hides mischief behind laughter. A crucial element of this character is that their presence and creativity challenges cultural norms. Both a creator and violator of culture, the ‘trickster’ influences David Ray in his subversion of what ceramics should or are perceived to be. Underneath the aristocratic sheep’s clothing of traditionally perceived beauty, hides the wolf serving as a guise of dysfunction.

Ray will exhibit new ceramic works that are the result of his residency in Liverpool, UK. In these neo-baroque ceramic works, Ray explores the physicality of materials and concepts of the hand-made in a continuously outsourced society. The artist also plays with our perceptions under the guise of the ‘trickster’.